Lamb kofte with tabbouleh and labne in pita
I bought some biodynamic mince from Moorlands Lamb at the market on the weekend. I’ve been thinking about making kofte for a while and figured this would be the perfect opportunity. I’m told you shouldn’t use lean mince to make kofte. The Moorlands mince should have been fatty enough to keep the kofte moist and flavourful. Besides, their lamb is of teh highest quality. Of course, it’s also produced very ethically. I didn’t add any fresh herbs to the kofte mixture because I was serving them with tabouleh that was busting with both fresh mint and parsley. Both herbs work so well with lamb. If you’re not going to serve the kofte this way, you could add a tablespoon of finely chopped parsley and/or mint to the meat mixture. It’s important to cook these on the BBQ or in a hot griddle pan like I did; the char marks give them so much flavour.
Serves 3
| 500-600 | grams | lamb mince |
| 1 | tablespoon | breadcrumbs |
| 1 | teaspoon | ground cumin |
| 1 | teaspoon | ground coriander |
| 1 | onion | |
| salt and pepper |
To serve (optional)
| 3 | pita bread | |
| 2 | cups | tabbouleh |
| labne, tzatziki or natural yoghurt |
To make the kofte, place the lamb, breadcrumbs, cumin and coriander in a mixing bowl. Discard the skin and grate the onion. Squeeze the grated onion and discard the liquid. Add the onion to the bowl and mix thoroughly. Divide the mixture into three, then three again so you have nine equal sized pieces. Using wet hands, shape the mixture into sausage shapes. Arrange the kofte on a tray, cover and refrigerate until ready to cook.
Make a BBQ or griddle pan smoking hot. Cook the kofte for a few minutes on each side till just cooked through, and nicely charred.
To serve (optional), freshen the pita over your BBQ or griddle pan till softened. Scoop on a generous quantity of tabouleh; arrange three kofte on top; add some labne, or drizzle with tzatziki or yoghurt. Fold in one end of the pita, roll and serve.
Enjoy!
